A New Plymouth man who "cowardly" bottled and later stabbed a man at Tutukaka up to 16 times has been jailed for four years and nine months.
Clayton Sam Walthall, 30, appeared in the Whangarei District Court on Thursday after having earlier been found guilty by a jury on charges of
causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and wounding with intent to injure.
The court heard Walthall smashed a bottle on the head of father-of-one Dylan Pullman, 33, of Tutukaka, then later stabbed him up to 16 times on March 7 last year.
Defence lawyer John Watson said it was a sad matter for Walthall, who had no previous criminal convictions. "This was a day he very much regrets. It turned his life inside-out," Mr Watson said.
Judge Duncan Harvey said Walthall went to Schnappa Rock restaurant and bar, in Tutukaka, on March 6 with friends and "banter" had broken out between him and Mr Pullman.
Walthall had been called a redneck and Mr Pullman had taken Walthall's cap. Walthall had thrown a beer bottle at Mr Pullman and, outside the bar, had stabbed him 16 times.
Judge Harvey said Mr Pullman was followed out of the bar by two friends, but he did not accept that the three had been together or that the three had attacked him.
"I'm of the view that you heard Mr Pullman coming. You knew you were in trouble because of what had happened [in Schnappa Rock] and you got out that knife before you went to the ground [in a scuffle with Mr Pullman]," Judge Harvey said.
The judge said there was some provocation involved in Walthall's offences but his reactions had been completely out of proportion and did not justify his use of a knife.
"For reasons you can't explain you were prepared to use a weapon. The cowardly act of throwing a bottle is indication of that," Judge Harvey said.
"It's a sad fact that the use of knives is becoming the rule, rather than the exception. Your case is a classic example of why the law doesn't permit people to carry knives ... if they are carried they will be used," Judge Harvey said.
